Dry sandy open ground; typically not in the somewhat moister, sometimes calcareous sites favored by our other two somewhat widespread native annual Aristida species, A. longespica and A. necopina, but more in barrens with acidic soils.

This is our most northerly species of Aristida, but a 1914 O. A. Farwell collection from “Bluffs at Clifton,” Keweenaw Co. is far enough out of range to be suspicious and is not mapped. The measurements in the key for awns of this species and A. dichotoma are based directly on the distance from base of awn to apex, without any allowance for straightening out the spiral loops.